 SSDRC Filing a Social Security Disability Application - How to File & the Information that is Needed by SSA Do you need a Lawyer at the Administrative Law Judge Disability Hearing? Social Security Disability Back pay and How Long it Takes to Qualify for it How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition? What Can I Do to Improve My Chances of Winning Disability Benefits Common Mistakes after Receiving a Denial of benefits If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare? How much is paid for the Social Security Disability Attorney Fee? How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability? How To Get Disability Through SSDI or SSI Approved Should you get Help from a Disability Attorney before the Claim has been Denied? Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability Qualifying for Disability - What is Social Security Looking for? How do I check the status of my Social Security disability claim? What Expenses Will A Social Security Attorney Charge In Addition To The Fee? |
Facts about Huntington's disease and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1. Huntington's disease is a genetic condition that causes progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the brain. Anyone who has the mutation will eventually present symptoms of the disease, if they live long enough for its onset to occur. 2. The condition most commonly develops in middle age. Typically, the disease progresses more quickly and causes more severe symptoms when it begins in someone's younger years. Sometimes, but not often, the disease may develop in children or infants. 3. The degeneration of nerve cells in the brain causes problems with physical and mental capabilities. This includes symptoms of uncontrolled and involuntary facial and body movement, personality changes and mental illness, and cognitive problems such as learning, decision making and answering questions. 4. In younger people, additional symptoms include rigid muscles, tremors, slow movement and sometimes seizures. 5. In later stages the symptoms become more severe and involved, such as severe balance and coordination problems, sudden spasms of movement throughout the whole body and also the eyes, speech problems, difficulty swallowing and dementia. 6. Depending on the progression of the condition, death can occur 10 to 30 years from the onset of symptoms, with quality of life different for each individual. Regardless of signs and symptoms throughout the disease, typically vital functioning eventually degenerates. Cause of death is also often related to a bad fall or illness. Since depression is common among Huntington's patients, suicide is sometimes a factor. 7. Genetic testing is the best way to determine if symptoms are caused by Huntington's. If one of the individual's parents has had Huntington's, the individual has a 50-50 chance of having the gene. Therefore, genetic testing can be done at any age to determine if the genetic mutation is present. 8. Genetic testing is emotionally tricky, since some people may feel tormented wondering if they will contract the condition, whereas others may feel burdened by the knowledge that they will sometime develop it. Genetic counseling is offered before and after the testing to help with this difficult decision and knowledge. Can you qualify for disability benefits with this condition? Whether or not you qualify for disability and, as a result, are approved for disability benefits will depend entirely on the information obtained from your medical records. This includes whatever statements may have been obtained from your treating physician (a doctor who has a history of treating your condition and is, therefore, qualified to comment as to your condition and prognosis). It will also depend on the information obtained from your vocational, or work, history if you are an adult, or academic records if you are a minor-age child. The important thing to keep in mind is that the social security administration does not award benefits based on simply having a condition, but, instead, will base an approval or denial on the extent to which a condition causes functional limitations. Functional limitations can be great enough to make work activity not possible (or, for a child, make it impossible to engage in age-appropriate activities). Why are so many disability cases lost at the disability application and reconsideration appeal levels? Speaking as a former Disability Claims Examiner, I can state that there are several reasons: 1) Social Security makes no attempt to obtain a statement from a claimant's treating physician. By contrast, at the hearing level, a claimant and his or her disability attorney will generally obtain and present this type of statement to a judge; 2) Prior to the hearing level, a claimant will not have the opportunity to explain how their condition limits them, nor will their attorney or representative have the opportunity to make a presentation based on the evidence of the case. At the hearing level, of course, this is exactly what happens. And a number of disability representatives will also take such steps even earlier, at the reconsideration appeal level; 3) Disability judges, unlike disability examiners who decides cases at the first two levels of the system, can make independent decisions without being overturned by immediate supervisors--which happens frequently. 
Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page Topics and Questions Other Links SSD and SSI are Federal Programs The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here: Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials |